Ask Scotland County after Friday night's 71-47 loss and the Tigers will tell you that Canton may give Highland a run for its money as the most talented team in northeast Missouri.

"Canton by far is the most fundamentally sound team we've played this season" stated Coach Marc Colvin after his team played what he called a solid game, yet still lost to the talented Canton squad by 24 points.

"The score doesn't indicate how well we played," Colvin said. "Canton is just that good. We executed offensively and most of the time we got good looks at the baskets. More importantly we're playing with enthusiasm now and that's what we need."

Scotland County stayed with the Tigers in the first period by spreading the ball around. Six different players tallied scores for SCR-I but they still trailed 17-14 after one quarter of play.

Logan Bogatzke scored a pair of buckets in the second period but Scotland County managed just three more points as Canton doubled its opening performance with 17 more points to lead 34-31 at the half.

SCR-I got back on track in the third period with strong play on the interior. Brad Holt poured in five points and fellow forwards Clint Cottrell and Robbie Miller both had four points. Despite the good play, Canton added to the deficit to lead 53-36.

Canton then outscored SCR-I 18-11 in the final quarter to post the 71-47 victory.

Cottrell led Scotland County with 10 points, Aaron Dale finished with eight followed by Brad Holt and Kirk Stott with seven each. Bogatzke and Miller each finished with three. The loss sends Scotland County to 2-10 on the year.

Brad Ayers topped Canton with 16 points while Jeffrey Allen added 11. Canton had eight players score six or more points for a very balanced scoring attack.